I'm just wondering whether there's an IC history surrounding the Silent Blades and their training. Specifically I'm looking for a background or reasoning for their veiled faces.

Like, I assume covering their face is a final part of their training, so that they are one unit. When you are killed by a Silent Blade it is as if you are killed by the unit (sort of like "Faceless Men" from GoT

Part of their training includes discarding their true identity in a nihilistic way, thinking of themselves as "no one".

)

I'm just exploring the other practical reasons, like when they are all together do they still keep their faces veiled? When they are on an "espionage" mission, rather than a "murdering mission" do they take the veil off? It's easy to spot the mole in your organisation if he has his face covered. Having to murder anyone who saw your face, is that only if they can make the link between your face and you being a silent blade or is it whenever they see your *true* face.

Anyway, I was kinda wondering whether we had some grand IC tale explaining a lot of these rules and the reasons behind them. If it's a secret, then that's fair enough. Otherwise I wouldn't mind putting my hand to something and writing a little something up (subject to referee proofing and approval)

and yes, i agree that the mask rule can be self defeating, which is why i uniqued "master of disguise" for Dusk to be able to use makeup and disguise techniques to appear as someone else... something which would perhaps not be amiss as a purchasable silent blade class feature (?)

Uukumanu - ranger and spirit seekerTuvstarr - Black Queen of Pharon GlosImliss - High Elven researcher in Blood MagicAetheldred - Sorcerer and psychomancer, daughter of the Völva of the Blood of Alfhild

I second (third?) this, though I'd really REALLY like to see HoP move from the 'NINJAS' 'SAMURAI' 'MYSTIC' stereotypes. Some nice cheese is okay but I think this whole section which everyone is recently interested in is a minefield for gimmicks.

I'd like it to be a guilt thing. They truly hate themselves and what they do, there's no honour in it. So anyone that see's their face is judging them, making them feel guilty. That person must be killed because otherwise they KNOW, you can't hide the guilt anymore.

By concealing their faces, they reduce themselves to their role and preserve their true selves from the taint of their actions: so long as their essential being is forever silenced in the eyes of the outside world, beyond either final judgement or knowledge of redemption, their honour is preserved. If that self becomes known (I.e. in the showing of the face), the separation is dissolved and they are exposed to dishonour.

The end of their training is marked by a ceremony called the Silencing, in which the new silent blade dons their mask before descending into a tainted world, preserving themselves as they were prior to their first tainted deed.

Uukumanu - ranger and spirit seekerTuvstarr - Black Queen of Pharon GlosImliss - High Elven researcher in Blood MagicAetheldred - Sorcerer and psychomancer, daughter of the Völva of the Blood of Alfhild

I liked the idea of it being a uniform of sorts. Like an honor ritual.

Silent Blades are in absolute service to the empress. Students are either taken at birth from famlies with a debt, or given up by famlies seeking to climb the social ladder. Often times recruits would come from orphanages and prisons. In most cases being taken at a young age means that parents would be unable to recognise the child once they have grown to adulthood, or in the case of Orphans they would have no one who would care enough to remember their face. For criminals I would have them branded perhaps.

Chi'gura looked down at the four children standing below him, their faces dimly illuminated by the candlelight. He watched them struggle to stand on the cobbled floor, sweat dripping from their brows. They had be run especially ragged today and this pleased him. If you could see through his deep black veil you may have seen a smile trace across his lips. Chi'gura inhaled softly and from the back of his mind drew out the words he had heard as a boy. He thought on this for a while before remembering the truth of the matter, he was never a boy. He was always this.

"Today you have run faster than yesterday... it is not fast enough to outrun tomorrow.Today you have fought harder than before... yet you are not strong enough to fight fateTomorrow will always be a step ahead,It controls your actions and plans your demise.

But Tomorrow cannot know that which has no name,Tomorrow cannot seek those without a face.Together, we shape tomorrow in our own imageAnd he has no idea that our blades are at his back

For the Empress."

The children nodded in acknowledgement before Chi'gura waved them away, moving silently to their quarters to eat and rest off the days training. For now they worked together, picking up the slack if one of them was failing, helping one another to perfect their abilities. If only they knew Chi'gura mused, as he thought back to the final day of his training.

********* [Flashback]

He was a lean youth, one of a selection of four as was the norm. He remembered his own struggles, long days in the heat running drills for what seemed like an eternity, backbreaking training with all manner of weapons. Chi'gura knew they were almost ready to be tested and he looked forward to the day. Their master led them into a different sparing hall to usual, it was dark and filled with a thick smelling smoke. In his hand the master held one long black cloth, the veil. Chi'gura understood immediately, if four were meant to succeed there would be four veils. The master had each student take up a corner of the room, he placed the veil in the centre and spoke.

"The face you wear now, is yours alone. It belongs to none other. That face is destined to die." He paused to allow the weight of his words sink in.

"Five faces enter this room. Four weak, pale and alone. One strong, bathed in darkness, one face of many. Only one face will leave this room and it will wear this veil, all others will be cut down." The master extinguished what little light the candles gave off in the room and left.

*********

Chi'gura stepped out of the room wearing his newly won veil. His master stood waiting outside and nodded briefly.

"The face you wear now, is the Empresses. It belongs to none other. That face is destined to never die."

The master waved and from the shadows a group of veiled silent blades appeared, each pulled a short bow from their back and loosened a flaming arrow into the building Chi'gura had emerged from.

"You should rest." the master said, leading Chi'gura to his new private quarters. Chi'gura stepped inside alone, took note of the furnishings and the small mirror on the wall. He slowly unwrapped his veil, wincing as he touched bruises and cuts. Chi'gura stared at the mirror for what seemed like hours, taking in his own face. A face that no other would ever know.

It's not exactly polished, and could be better. But it was just an idea I had at work.

I figure it's implied that when they're actually being stealthy and secret identity, they don't wear the veil. It's just you won't even know they're a Silent Blade. All the rest of the time, when they wear it, you know who they are. You know they belong to the Empress, and where there is one, there's probably more, so you generally don't fuck with them.

I figure they don't really kill without the Empress's authority anyway. They're implied to always be hunting demons, but outside of that they're not random murderers.

The Silent BladesMany stories have been told of the mysterious order known as The Silent Blades: some claim they are murderers, assassins, thieves and spies hiding in the shadows, their faces shrouded in darkness and to some greater or lesser extent these statements are true but to understand the Silent Blades you must look at their history.

The Silent Blades were founded by Dakron when the world was very young (and the land of Serke Kemi even younger). This was before Dakron ascended to godhood and therefore was before the world witnessed its first murder. Therefore, obviously, they were not founded as an order of assassins. Dakron trained those who followed him to slay demons in the most efficient way possible using whatever tools were at their disposal: sword, knife, bow, poison, it didn’t matter as long as the demon lay dead at the end.

In a land where honour is extremely important, many of those selected as Silent Blades found this way of fighting an anathema but Dakron taught them to take honour from the success and efficiency of the kill rather than in some arbitrary set of rules as to how you should engage your enemy. He taught that demons have no honour so should be afforded none and this allayed many of the concerns held by those under his tutelage. However, the fledgling Silent Blades found themselves distrusted by other Serkanians, ostracised from society and their families cast out from the settlements. Added to this, the Silent Blades were considered such a threat that the demons of Serke Kemi would attempt to track them down and destroy them rather than wait for these men to attack from the shadows.

Sensing the threat to his order, Dakron ruled that the Silent Blades would keep their faces covered while acting as Silent Blades and should track down and destroy anyone who uncovered their identity. Only in this way would they and their families be safe and the Silent Blades could concentrate on their purpose.

TodayIn the years following Dakron’s ascension, the Silent Blades reputation for efficacy and expediency led to their employ in other matters, particularly those considered dishonourable (including the aforementioned assassination, theft and espionage) however they live by the code that honour is granted by efficient success of their mission, not by some arbitrary set of rules.

The MaskIt is a misnomer that Silent Blades must always wear a mask, they do not. They understand that by wearing the mask those around them know what they are and treat them differently (although sometimes this can be an advantage). If a Silent Blade were to be breaking in to a man’s home in the night in order to end his life, they would wear a mask. However, if they intended to infiltrate a gathering, get close to their target and assassinate him alone then they would not. The essential warning that all Silent Blades have drummed into them in training is this: you only have one face. In other words, if someone finds out who you are and what you are then there are no second chances, your identity has been compromised and you put yourself, your friends, your family and the Order in jeopardy. They are urged to wear the mask at all times unless their objective cannot be completed while wearing it and in this way your anonymity is protected.